Around the Kitchen Table: WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE FOODS OF SUMMER? + 5 Book #Giveaway

CLEO COYLE: Marc and I hope you're all enjoying this holiday weekend. For many, July Fourth marks the start of summer vacationing season, and summer eating! Mouthwatering barbeques, fresh corn on the cob, sweet slices of watermelon, and ripe garden tomatoes...

Marc and I love them all. Another of our favorites is ICE CREAM. We don't have an ice cream maker, so we use the easy no-churn method to make it fresh in our own freezer. If you'd like the recipe for our No-Churn Vanilla, Chocolate, and Coffee Ice Creams, click here or on the photo below, and have a delicious summer, everyone!

Click here or on the photo above to get
Cleo's recipes for No-Churn

Chocolate, Vanilla, and Coffee

Ice Creams (No Machine Needed!)

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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN...

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FOODS OF SUMMER?

Join our chat in the comments and you’ll be

entered to win a terrific set of books

for your summer reading!

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I'm with Cleo on loving ice cream in summer, though we don't often make our own. We do make our own Chocolate Cabernet Sauce, which I shared with readers in Butter Off Dead and on the blog. Super easy, super yummy, and delish all year round. Plus it keeps in the fridge for a weeks, though ours never lasts that long.

Summer is also the perfect time for salads that need nothing except maybe a chunk of bread and a glass of a crisp white wine to make the perfect dinner. Even better if you can make a big bowl of it and enjoy it for dinner a couple of nights and maybe lunch in between. One of our faves is one we call Hail to the Shrimp---it was one of my first posts as a Mystery Lovers' Kitchen guest and the one I shared a few years ago for the blog's 10th anniversary. We've already made it once this summer, and I'm betting it's back on the menu at least a time or two before the weather cools. It's super flexible---use whatever fresh herbs you've got. It's bright and colorful and easy---just right for any summer evening!    

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LUCY BURDETTE: How I love the vegetables of summer! That's when I make my first-ever recipe on MLK, the leaning tower of eggplant, with fresh eggplant, tomatoes and arugula from the garden or the farmer's market. Or I might make Mark Bittman's tomato rice soup, or how about a tomato cheese pie with a cornmeal crust?

 

 

 

 

 

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LESLIE KARST: I love outdoor dining--and cooking!--during the summer months. Nothing like firing up the barbecue to grill some sausages, chicken, and summer vegetables, then sitting around the patio with your family and friends sipping wine as you chat and watch the sun sink into the west. 

 

 

And as Lucy says, the summer veggies! Oh là là! Time for homemade pickles and tomato jam! 

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MADDIE DAY: Ah, summer, how I love you. When I can wander out to my garden and harvest dinner, I am a happy author - and human being. Sweet corn from the farm store. Freshly picked blueberries from my own bushes. Armfuls of basil. Asian eggplant on the grill, and mostly, sun-warmed tomatoes.  

One favorite thing to make is when I have my own eggplant, peppers, basil, and tomatoes is Roasted Ratatouille. If it's too hot to roast indoors, you can grill the eggplant and peppers.

Last year I even my had my own potatoes to serve with the ratatouille. Mmm. Right now my garden tomatoes are small and green, but they'll get there!

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PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON:  I'm old enough to remember when summer meant the arrival of watermelon and corn on the cob because neither was available year round like they are now.  We were so excited when they first became available at the local farm stand.  I still look forward to both of them!  I also love ice cream, but that's a year-round treat.  Right now we have locally grown asparagus from Michigan and I could eat that every night!  I will also grill anything that doesn't run away and I love making desserts with the luscious berries that become available.  I just made this simple strawberry cobbler again and it was the essence of summer.

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MAYA CORRIGAN: Living near the Chesapeake Bay, I associate summer with hard shell blue crabs. That's what we'll eat with friends for the July 4th celebration at our house. We won't cook the crabs ourselves, but buy them from the crab truck that parks outside our local supermarket several times during the summer. 

 

For those who don't care to crack the shells and dig out the crab meat, we often serve Chesapeake style shrimp along with the crabs. The crabs and the shrimp are steamed with Old Bay seasoning, a Maryland product. Corn on the cob, coleslaw, and watermelon complete the feast. 

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VICKI DELANY: For me it's tomatoes, hands down. I am lucky enough to live in farm country and that means tomatoes straight from my neighbouring farm.  Since coming to live in Prince Edward County, Ontario, I've come to appreciate the wide variety of heirloom tomatoes that are having a resurgence in popularity. I've posted in the past about  Vicki's Veggies (no relation) who specializes in heirloom tomatoes. Her tomatoes tasting day at the beginning of September is a county tradition. Here's some pics of the variety

What to do with all those tomatoes? Here's my summertime favourite recipe for Italian style bread salad:

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Bread salad (mysteryloverskitchen.com)

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TINA KASHIAN: I love summer and the hotter the better. We plan a garden every year and grow Jersey tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and herbs. Using fresh ingredients from my garden to prepare dishes and salads makes me happy. We also have our own grapevine, and we pick grape leaves to make stuffed grape leaves. We pick the leaves when they are tender and freeze them in glass jars of brine to have enough to last all winter. As you can see, the grapevine can take over.

 

I also use the tomatoes, scallions, and parsley from my garden to make fresh salads. One of my favorites is tabbouleh. 

 Enjoy your summer!

 

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MOLLY MacRAE: My love for summer in pictures and a recipe for refreshing Rosemary Watermelon Lemonade.

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GIVEAWAY!

To be entered in this week's drawing

for the 5 terrific mysteries below,

join us in the comments.

What are your favorite foods of summer? 

Join the

conversation!

Include your email address,

so we can contact the winner!

 

> BREWED AWAKENING by Cleo Coyle

> THE SOLACE OF BAY LEAVES By Leslie Budewitz

> A SCONE OF CONTENTION by Lucy Burdette

> GINGERDEAD MAN by Maya Corrigan

> ONE FETA IN THE GRAVE by Tina Kashian

Comments Open through
Wednesday, July 6

Don't forget to include
your email address.

This giveaway is now over. 

Congrats to our winner, 

BRENDA ELLIS!

📚

Peanutty coleslaw: a summer favorite #recipe #mystery @AbbottMysteries

I had a recent visit to the Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda, Maryland with Linda Wiken and Vicki Delany. We were very happy to meet up with our MLK pals Leslie Budewitz and Sheila  Connolly. We got together to assemble our packages of Mystery Lovers Kitchen recipe cards that had been shipped to the hotel by Daryl. We handed out the bundles at various events during the conference. Lots of fun, high-speed action and what a team!  Of course, we all had our eyes open for new and tasty food while we were there.

At the conference  I encountered a delicious and  spicy coleslaw which was a 'side' in a nearby restaurant.  Once I was home, I tried to duplicate the taste. I found lots of recipes online but none quite the same.  Finally after a couple of tries, this was what I came up with:  it's a little less spicy and more peanutty than the original but that could be fixed with a few drops of hot sauce.  I really like that there's hardly any sugar in it but tons of flavor, thanks to great ingredients including peanuts!

We served this to our friend, Nancy, who said it was the best coleslaw she'd ever tasted.    Let's hope you have good results too! This will be our go-to salad for family events this summer.  

Peanutty Coleslaw

INGREDIENTS

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage

2/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup mayo

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cider vinegar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

2/3 cup finely chopped celery

1 medium carrot, grated

¼ cup green onion, finely sliced

½ cup peanuts, chopped

½ tsp celery salt

4 tablespoons peanut butter

2 jalepenos seeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Optional: hot sauce or Sriracha sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Shred cabbage in food processor.  Soak with ice for about an hour and a half.

Drain well and place in a bowl.  Add celery, carrot, green onion , cilantro and jalepeno.

In a small pitcher, blend mayo, sour cream, cider vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, celery salt, peanut butter, whisk until creamy. Don't forget the lime juice.

Mmmm - lime!

Blend dressing with cabbage and veggies and add peanuts.

Voila!

This is even better the second day. Although we're very happy and this is a keeper, we'd love to hear your suggestions to give it some more heat.

We served it with grilled pork tenderloin and potato salad. Yum!

In case you don't know, Victoria Abbott is a collaboration between Mary Jane Maffini and her daughter Victoria. Together we write the book collector mysteries.   We think that reading them is like taking a lovely trip to a mysterious place where books are everything and, yes, murder happens and great meals are served and some relatives are not to be trusted. Of course, justice prevails in the end and books are loved.

 

We like to think our book collector mysteries are fun, easy to read and surprising too. All five titles are available in print, e-book and audio format. Don't miss out.  You can get to meet Peachy (posing below) aka Walter the Pug.  Watch out for the Siamese cats - one is good and one will get you!